When Muhammad sent Urwah b. Masud and Ghaylan b. Salamah (see
Terror 77, CH. 17) to Jurash to learn the techniques of warfare
with the use of catapult and Testudo, he also despatched al-Tufayl
ibn 'Amr al-Dawsi to destroy the idol of Yaghuth at Dhu al-Kaffyan.
This idol was in the shape of a lion (or bull), signifying brute
strength belonged to the people of Amr ibn Humamamh al-Dawasi (Tufayl's
own people). Muhammad instructed Tufayl to gather his (Tufayl's)
people in this demolition and, having finished this carnage,
Tufayl was to join him (Muhamad) at Taif. With the assistance of
four hundred (400) of his people, Tufayl destroyed the said idol
by igniting its face and setting it on fire. Then Tufayl, along
with the four hundred rioters marched ahead to join Muhammad at
Taif. They also brought with them the catapult and the Testudo
(delivered to Tufayl by Urwah at Taif).

Terror Seventy-nine

The Siege of Taif by Muhammad - January, 630CE

As written previously (Terror 77, CH. 17), the fugitives from
Thaqif and B. Hawazin, and from other tribes, after fleeing the
battle of Hunayn exiled in Taif. The city of Taif was famous for
its luscious vineyard and was surrounded by many strong
fortresses. Ali Dashti writes that Taif was a tourist resort for
the Meccans and the B. Thaqif did not want to antagonise the
Meccans by supporting Muhammad (Dashti, p.77). These fugitives
took shelter in those fortified fortresses, shut their doors and
made preparations for a war. The city was capable to withstand a
siege for many months, as there was plentiful supply of water. The
fugitives stocked up their sanctuary with enough provision to last
them a year or so. Amongst the fugitive leaders was Malik from B.
Hawazin, and Adiy, the son of famous philanthropist, Hatim of
B.Tayii.

In the mean time, after the victory at Hunayn, Muhammad
proceeded straight to Taif and on arriving there discovered that
the Thaqif and the run-away B. Hawazin had already sheltered
themselves inside those formidable fortresses. So Muhammad laid
siege on them that lasted for fifteen (or twenty) days. While
moving towards Taif, he left behind a trail of terror, blood and
destruction. At first, he halted at Bahrat al-Rugha and built a
mosque there and prayed there. Here, Muhammad ordered the killing
of a Hudhayl man who had previously killed a B. Layth (Muslim)
man. Then he introduced the regulation of a life for a life, or
the rule on retaliation for homicide. In verse 2:178,
Allah approved Muhammad's nature of justice.

Then he halted at Liyyah and ordered the destruction of the
castle of Hawazin leader, Malik. As written before, Malik had
already fled to Taif and put himself up in one of the fortresses
of Thaqif. From Liyyah Muhammad went to Nakhb. On his way, he
changed the name of some places, simply because he did not like
their existing names. While at Nakhb, Muhammad ordered the
destruction of the walled garden of a man because the man had
refused to come out of his residence when he ordered him to do so.

Proceeding further, Muhammad halted at Taif and pitched his
tent near to the main fortress where the Thaqif people had taken
shelter. The people inhabiting the vicinity of the fort had to
surrender to him. The Thaqif showered Muhammad's troop with arrows
and killed a few of his companions. So Muhammad moved further away
and put up his tent on a higher ground; built a mosque there and
sheltered his two wives, Umm Salamah and Zaynab bt. Jahsh in two
red tents. He continued with the siege on the Taif fortresses,
prayed in the newly constructed mosque and stayed in the two tents
of his two wives.

During this time, Tufayl ibn Amr al-Dawsi, along with four
hundred (400) men joined Muhammad. Previously they were at Dhu al-Kaffayn
destroying an idol (see Terror 78, CH. 17).They also brought the
catapult and the Testudo at Taif. The Thaqif continued with their
strike on the Muslims, mainly with arrows and flames from behind
their fort, never coming out of it. The Muslims could not get
through the wall of the fort.

Then Muhammad decided to fight bitterly the Thaqif by using his
new war machines, the catapult and Testudo. The Taif citizens were
fully prepared for this type of attack. The newly arrived army
used the catapult and attacked the wall of a fortress, creating a
hole there. Then some Muslim soldiers were ported through this
hole inside the new Testudo. When the Muslim soldiers came out of
their Testudo, the Thaqif poured molten iron on them and showered
them with arrows, killing some of them and wounding many. It is
reported that Abu Bakr's son, Abd Allah, was gravely injured in
this fight. He never recovered from his wound and eventually
succumbed to his injury. The Muslims fled in alarm. Muhammad
blocked the road that stopped the supply of food to the Thaqif.
But the Thaqif were not alarmed. They had enough provisions to
last for a very long siege. Then Muhammad ordered the famed vines
of the Thaqif be cut and burned. He had already resorted to this
type of slash and burn approach during the siege of B. Nadir, and
recalled its supreme effectiveness. His new order was carried out
with merciless vigour. The Thaqif people were terrified and they
began communicating with Muhammad. On the pledge of safety by the
Thaqif, Muhammad then sent Abu Sufyan b. Harb and al-Mughira b.
Shuba to negotiate a deal with the besieged Thaqif. Abu Sufyan's
daughter, Amina was married to the Thaqif man, Urwa b. Masud and
had a son by him. Besides them, there were also a number of
Quraysh and B. Kinanah women in the fort. Abu Sufyan wanted to
evacuate these women and their children for, he was afraid that
these women would become captives of the Muslim army. The Thaqif
leader asked Muhammad to stop cutting down their valuable
orchards; in exchange for that, Muhammad was free to take
possession of them (i.e., the Quraysh and B. Kinanah women and
children residing in their fortresses). Muhammad stopped the
destruction of the orchards. Abu Sufyan asked the Quraysh women to
leave the fort, but they refused to come out, preferring to remain
with the Thaqif people. So Abu Sufyan's peace mission returned
without any success. The siege by Muhammad continued. Soon,
Muhammad enticed the Thaqif slaves with freedom if they deserted
their Thaqif masters and embraced Islam. Most slaves did not
respond to Muhammad's call; only a handful (numbering between 13
to 23) of them came out and embraced Islam. Muhammad set them free

During this time, a Muslim woman approached Muhammad and
requested of him that if Allah granted victory to the Muslims he
should give her the jewellery of two Thaqif women, for those two
women had the most expensive jewellery among the Thaqif women.
Such was the cupidity of Muslims engaged in Jihad!

After a siege of fifteen days or so, Muhammad grew impatient.
His followers were eagerly waiting for the distribution of booty
from the plunder of B. Hawazin that they had stored at Jirana.
They started pestering a demurred Muhammad. He did not know what
to do.

Then, suddenly, he had a bizarre dream and Abu Bakr interpreted
that dream as a negative result from this lengthy siege. Muhammad
agreed with Abu Bakr's interpretation of his dream, ordered to
break up the Muslim camp and proceed towards Jirana. The truth
was: an expert on warfare advised Muhammad that the beleaguered
Thaqif could easily be confronted at a later date as they were
like foxes in their holes. A shrewd Muhammad understood the
implication of such wise advice and decided to end the siege,
vowing to chastise the Thaqif after he had settled the booty
issue. Some of his minions were grumbling that they might miss out
the rich booty and pretty women of the Thaqif. Muhammad consoled
them to have patience for a later victory. He was not in a hurry.

Twelve Muslims died in the siege of Taif, seven from the
Quraysh, four from the Ansars and one from B. Layth.

From the account of this siege we learn quite a bit about the
major motives of the Jihadists to join Muhammad. One such motive,
obviously, was the greed for booty as was illustrated in the
example of a Muslim woman cited above; another motive was women.

Here is an interesting anecdote:

Jihadist's only desire was women!

When the besieged Thaqif people saw the departure of Muhammad's
Jihadists, they cried out in joy. Having heard their victory
signal, the newly converted Muslim, Uyaynah b. Hisn expressed his
solidarity with the Thaqif people by admitting that the Thaqif,
indeed had the victory. Another Muslim soldier admonished him; but
Uyaynah answered this Muslim Jihadist by claiming that he only
came to this battle to enjoy Thaqif women. He said, "By God, I did
not come to fight Thaqif with you, but I wished Muhammad to be
victorious over al-Taif, so that I might obtain a slave-girl from
Thaqif whom I might make pregnant so that she might bear me a son,
for Thaqif are clever people." When Umar told Muhammad what
Uyaynah had said, Muhammad said, "[This man exhibits] an
acceptable foolishness."

In the next few passages we shall witness the insatiable greed
of the Jihadits for booty.

The division of spoils of B. Hawazin

After aborting the siege of Taif, Muhammad trudged straight to
Jirana where all the booty of Hunayn battle was gathered (see
Terror 77, CH. 17). This was one of the largest booty that the
Jihadists ever had. As noted previously, the spoil consisted of
six thousand (6,000) captives of women and children, twenty-four
thousand (24,000) camels, forty thousand (40,000) sheep and four
thousand (4,000) ounces of silver. The Muslims were extremely
impatient to take hold of their respective share of the loot, and
Muhammad had to abandon Taif so-soon to please them.

When Muhammad arrived at Jirana, the deputation of Hawazin came
to meet him about the release of their women and children. First,
they had to embrace Islam before they could even start a
negotiation with Muhammad. One of them, B. Sa'd b. Bakr appealed
on the ground of blood relations. They could have either their
women and children or the goods, not both-Muhammad stipulated. The
B. Hawazin wanted their family back, instead of their cattle and
other properties. It is reported that B. Sa'd b. Bakr belonged to
the clan who had nursed (by Halima) Muhammad when he was an
infant. He pointed out that some of the captives were Muhammad's
kin by suckling. During this distribution of captives, Muhammad
met with his milk sister, Shyama, whose story had already been
told before (see Terror 77, CH. 17).

This passionate plea, on the ground of kinship melted slightly
Muhammad's heart. He contended that he would release his share
(i.e., one-fifth, or one thousand and two women and children) of
the captives and would also request other Muslims to release their
captives too. It was a voluntary offer; some Muslims readily
agreed on this but many refused. When Muhammad found out that
there was a sense of deprivation on this voluntary surrender of
their prized possessions, he set an exchange rate that whoever
freed a captive would receive six camels. In this way, most of the
women and children captives were finally released. Here is a
Hadith from Sahih Bukhari on the release of the
captives of B. Hawazin:

Volume 3, Book 46, Number 716:

Narrated Marwan and Al-Miswar bin Makhrama:

When the delegates of the tribe of Hawazin came to the
Prophet and they requested him to return their properties and
captives. The Prophet stood up and said to them, "I have other
people with me in this matter (as you see) and the most beloved
statement to me is the true one; you may choose either the
properties or the prisoners as I have delayed their
distribution." The Prophet had waited for them for more than ten
days since his arrival from Ta'if. So, when it became evident to
them that the Prophet was not going to return them except one of
the two, they said, "We choose our prisoners." The Prophet got
up amongst the people and glorified and praised Allah as He
deserved and said, "Then after, these brethren of yours have
come to us with repentance, and I see it logical to return them
the captives. So, whoever amongst you likes to do that as a
favor, then he can do it, and whoever of you likes to stick to
his share till we recompense him from the very first war booty
which Allah will give us, then he can do so (i.e. give up the
present captives)." The people unanimously said, "We do that
(return the captives) willingly." The Prophet said, "We do not
know which of you has agreed to it and which have not, so go
back and let your leaders forward us your decision." So, all the
people then went back and discussed the matter with their
leaders who returned and informed the Prophet that all the
people had willingly given their consent to return the captives.
This is what has reached us about the captives of Hawazin.
Narrated Anas that 'Abbas said to the Prophet, "I paid for my
ransom and Aqil's ransom."

From his share of captive women, Muhammad gave his son-in-law
Ali a slave-girl, Raytah bt.Hilal to enjoy her at his will. He
also presented, Uthman b. Affan, another of his sons-in-law,
another slave-girl, Zaynab bt. Hayyan; bestowed Umar b. Khattab
with a freed girl. Umar gave that girl to his son Abd Allah. Abd
Allah sent this girl to his maternal aunt to get her ready so that
he could enjoy her after he had circumambulated the Ka'ba! Most of
Muhammad's other elite companions received slave-girls. It is
reported that Abd Allah released her sex-slave when he heard that
Muhammad had advised the Muslims to release their captives.

Uayanah b. Hisn received an old widow as a captive, hoping to
raise good ransom for her. When he heard Muhammad's call to
release the captive women, he was very disappointed and refused to
release her in exchange for six camels. One of his comrades then
told him 'to let her go for her mouth was neither cold nor were
her breasts swelling, she could not conceive, her milk was not
rich and her husband would not care.' Being saddened with such an
'expired' woman, Uayanan b. Hisn released her in exchange for six
camels.

Then Uayanah met his friend al-Aqra and complained to him about
his chagrin over Muhammad's call. His friend replied, "By God, you
did not take her as virgin in her prime nor even full-figured in
her middle age!"

Muhammad then offered Malik, the leader of the Hawazin, who was
hiding at Taif to come out of his recluse and pledged that if he
embraced Islam then he (Muhammad) would return his family and
possessions. When this news of conditional amnesty reached Malik,
he decided to leave Taif stealthily; he came to Jirana where
Muhammad was stationed, embraced Islam and reclaimed his family.
After embracing Islam, he aided Muhammad in fighting the Thaqif
people.

Apparently, the Muslims were not quite happy with Muhammad's
generous gesture towards his erstwhile foes. They were
apprehensive that if this 'kindness' by Muhammad continued
unabated they might miss out in their fair share of the prisoners
and the booty. They felt a sense of deprivation from the huge
booty that they had collected after a vigorous fight. So, while
Muhammad was riding away after releasing the captives of Hunayn,
the Muslims ran after him saying, "O Messenger of God, divide our
booty of camels and small cattle among us." They were so
persistent and forceful that they pushed Muhammad's back against a
tree and took out his mantle. The Jihadists were simply enraged
that the booty might elude them. A desperate Muhammad cried out, "
Give me back my mantle, men, for by God if you had as many sheep
as the trees of Tihama, I would distribute them among you; you
have not found me niggardly or cowardly or false." To appease this
unruly bunch of booty-hungry Jihadists, he even promised them to
return his personal one-fifth share (khums) of the booty.
Only then did the Jihadists release a grossly distressed Muhammad.

Muhammad gave special gifts as a bribe to those newly converted
Muslims whose hearts were to be won and who were eminent among the
Quraysh. To support his action he claimed that the Quraysh were
not strong in Islam, so he had to bribe them to buy their heart.
Here is a Hadith from Sahih Bukhari on this
action of bribery of Muhammad:

Volume 4, Book 53, Number 374:

Narrated Anas:

The Prophet said, "I give to Quraish people in order to let
them adhere to Islam, for they are near to their life of
Ignorance (i.e. they have newly embraced Islam and it is still
not strong in their hearts."

Allah quickly approved this form of bribery in verse
9:60. Even some Quraysh who were still pagan received
something.

He gave one hundred (100) camels to those elite converts like,
Abu Sufyan b. Harb, his two sons Muawiyah and Yazid, Safwan b.
Uumayyah, Suhayl b. Amr, Uyayanah b. Hisn etc. When Abu Sufyan
grumbled and asked for more he gave him and each of his sons forty
(40) ounces of gold (in today's money it is around US$ 16,000).
Safwan b. Umayyah wanted more, so Muhammad gave him another two
hundred (200) camels, i.e., all together, he received three
hundred (300) camels. They became to be known as "Men of
Hundreds." Not only that Muhammad 'bribed' those new converts with
money and goods, but he also elevated some of them to important
positions. Thus Abu Sufyan's son Yazid was made the governor of
Tayma and his other son Muawiya was appointed the secretary of
Muhammad. Those new converts below in rank of the elite received
less than one hundred camels, some of them received only fifty
camels. Some new Muslims were not pleased with this type of
'bribery discrimination' and they reproached Muhammad.

To placate the 'tongues' of these new converts, Muhammad gave
them more camels until they were satisfied and stopped criticising
him.

When a devoted Jihadist, Juayl b. Suraqah complained about
Muhammad's unfairness in the distribution of B. Hawazin booty,
Muhammad replied, "By Him in whose hand is my soul, Juayl b.
Suraqah is better than an entire world full of men like Uyayanah
b. Hisn and al-Aqra b. Habis, but I have treated them generously
so that they may embrace Islam, and I have entrusted Ju'ayl b.
Suraqah to his Islam."

All the booty of Hunayn were distributed among the Quraysh and
the Bedouin tribes. The Ansars received nothing. They
were very unhappy and this mood of their discontent reached
Muhammad. The Ansars were apprehensive that Muhammad was
now with his own people (Quraysh). Muhammad gathered the Ansars
and told them that the others had booty but they had him as their
own; that was better than booty. Then Muhammad shed tears for them
and promised that he was one of the Ansars and. The
Ansars expressed their satisfaction with Muhammad's
explanation for 'booty discrimination.' See Sahih Muslim,
book 4, Hadith number 2303 for further details.

After this meeting with the Ansars, Muhammad left
Jirana and went to perform an Umra, and ordered that that
the rest of the spoils be kept back in Majanna, another safe
location. After returning from Umra, he left for Medina,
leaving Muadh b. Jabal at Mecca in charge of teaching Islam to the
new Muslims and Attab b. Asid, a new convert, as the Governor of
Mecca with an allowance of one Dirham a day. The rest of the loot
followed him to Medina. Muhammad arrived in Medina in April, 630.

From the Jirana booty, every Jihadist got four camels and forty
sheep. Every horseman got an additional share for his horse. A
horseman received twelve (12) camels and one hundred and twenty
(120) sheep. Convert these animals to equivalent US$ and you will
surely comprehend why Jihad was such a great attraction to all
those clodhoppers of Muhammad.

After Muhammad returned to Medina he appointed several tax
collectors to collect Jizya taxes, by force, if necessary
from those tribes who refused to accept Islam.

Terror Eighty

The Raid on B. Tamim by Uyana b. Hisn - July, 630CE

When the forced Jizya on the infidels became extremely
oppressive, many tribes rebelled against Muhammad. B. Tamim,
refused to pay Jizya and enticed other tribes to follow
suit when the Muslim tax collector approached them. So Muhammad
sent Uyana b. Hisn, at the behest of fifty horsemen to punish B.
Tamim and to exact the Jizya from them. Uyana attacked B.
Tamim while they were grazing their cattle in the desert. Most of
B. Tamim fled in terror. Uyana took the booty of camels and
flocks, captured eleven men, twenty-one women, and thirty children
and brought the booty to Medina. Muhammad incarcerated the
captured men, women and children. Soon, after learning about their
incarceration, B.Tamim sent a ten man delegation to Muhammad to
negotiate their release. These Bedouins came to Medina and called
out curtly for Muhammad while the latter was resting in his
apartment. Allah was displeased with this roughness towards His
messenger and quickly sent down verses 49:4
admonishing this unruly bunch of Arab Bedouins and forbade raising
of voice volume above that of messenger of Allah. An annoyed
Muhammad talked briefly with them and then he went to perform his
prayer. Allah also released verse 49:6 warning
Muhammad to verify facts before acting on it. Then Muhammad
entered into a prolong negotiation with the B. Tamim delegation. A
poetry competition was held to judge whose religion was
better---Islam or paganism. Of course, Islam won the competition;
the B. Tamim converted to Islam and Muhammad released their men,
women and children. When they converted to Islam, Muhammad praised
them and Bibi Aisha released a slave that belonged to B. Tamim.
Here is a Hadith on B. Tamim from Sahih Bukhari:

Volume 3, Book 46, Number 719:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

I have loved the people of the tribe of Bani Tamim ever since
I heard, three things, Allah's Apostle said about them. I heard
him saying, These people (of the tribe of Bani Tamim) would
stand firm against Ad-Dajjal." When the Sadaqat (gifts of
charity) from that tribe came, Allah's Apostle said, "These are
the Sadaqat (i.e. charitable gifts) of our folk." 'Aisha had a
slave-girl from that tribe, and the Prophet said to 'Aisha,
"Manumit her as she is a descendant of Ishmael (the Prophet)."

Terror Eighty-one

Terrorising B. al-Mustaliq for Jizya - July,
630CE

As per the Islamic rule on subjugated people, a tax collector
went to collect Jizya tax from the B. al-Mustaliq people.
This tribe surrounded the tax collector. Apprehending violence,
the tax collectors fled to Medina. Muhammad threatened them with
terror and revenge. The frightened B. Mustaliq then received the
tax collector with courtesy and paid the Jizya due on
them.

During this period Muhammad sent Qutbah ibn Amir at the head of
twenty men to conduct a surprise raid on B. Khatamah, inhabiting
Tabalah near Turbah, apparently for no good reason other than pure
pillage. The Muslims killed a man who pretended to be dumb. Then
they attacked the infidels while they were asleep. The Muslims
slaughtered whomever they could and took a great number of camels,
goats and women as booty.